Blog : Hardware & Software

Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment arm has made an undisclosed investment in Airware, Silicon Valley’s most heavily venture backed drone startup. The announcement comes as Airware releases their long anticipated operating system for commercial drones.

Airware’s operating system, known as its Aerial Information Platform (AIP) combines hardware, software, and cloud services to enable enterprises to safely operate drones at scale. I attended an exclusive launch event and demonstration hosted by Airware earlier this week and was impressed by their mission planning software and total solution.

Airware hopes to become the standard for commercial drones by enabling customers to select vehicles and then mix and match hardware and software components to create drones for different jobs. Airware is touting their platform as a safe and reliable alternative for enterprise customers who require more than consumer grade drones can offer.

“We designed the Aerial Information Platform for enterprise needs and created the most reliable, insurable, and extensible solution for operating commercial drones at scale. We look forward to helping customers capture aerial data and make it more useful and actionable than ever before.” said Jonathan Downey, founder and CEO of Airware.

At a farm one hour north of San Francisco, Airware demonstrated their platform and introduced attendees to drone manufacturers and others who were currently using Airware’s system in the field. The beta testing was conducted by Delta Drone of France, Altavian of Florida, Drone America of Nevada, and Allied Drones of California.